Rumour: PS3 to get in-game video chat

Mike Bantick
Friday, 11 July 2008 06:35

Your IT - Entertainment

One of the disappointments of the recently [bungled] 2.40 PS3 firmware release was the non inclusion of any type of in-game chat facility.  Rumour has it, that the delay is due to Sony going one step further than voice, instead aiming for in-game video chat.

V2.40 if the PS3 firmware introduced a Trophies based achievement system to the majority of PS3 games.  It also increased the flexibility of the Cross Memory Bar (XMB) interface, bringing the ability to bring it in-game.

But many bemoaned the lack of an integrated voice chat facility, a much requested and expected feature.

Well, add a grain of salt and file under ‘rumour’ for now, but playstationlifestyle.net is reporting an insider comment that Sony are planning on bypassing simple audio based chat for a visual system.

From the site:
One of the most requested features to come with In-Game XMB was Voice Chat. However when 2.40 arrived, many people were disappointed to hear that it wouldn’t be featured with the update. Sony will deliver this addition sometime later this year, however they also hope to go one step further: In-Game Video Chat. And we’re not just talking about video chatting while you have the game paused. According to an inside source, In-Game Video Chat will enable you to video chat with a friend while actually playing your game. It will work in a similar fashion to BD-Live where there is a PiP (Picture in Picture) window in the top right corner of the screen so you can see your friend(s) while you chat with them. It’s unclear when exactly this will arrive but it should come via firmware update by the end of this year.

So, fire up your Sony Eye, call for ‘make-up’ and put on your best game face as you come face to face with your opponents.